As soon as someone can beat him out of that position. LOL. In all seriousness, any upgrade is a good upgrade. I'm really hoping that a few of these rookies and inexperienced WRs step up this year, we are short as hell in that position. I will say this, if Walter is still our #2 guy in 2013 we should really begin to worry. Because that would mean we just aren't picking or coaching the WRs right. Walter is good, but he is replaceable. He ain't no AJ.

Kw just lacks the speed necessary to stretch the field, no problem with hands or ability to run the routes or make the blocks.

Its not just about having speed to stretch the field to me. Walter has struggled against man coverage the last couple of years. In zone he still is good because he knows this offense so well and knows where to find the open seams. He just lacks the quickness and acceleration to beat good corners running any route against man. I think thats why you'll actually see him playing inside more this year. Ideally you'd want Martin playing in the role, but we move our receivers around so much I don't even think it matters. All of the receivers including Andre will see snaps out of the slot at some point.

Just to put it out there, I really do like Walter and I'm glad he's on the team. Like I said earlier in this thread he does some really good things for our team. I think what everyone wants is a legit threat opposite Andre to help pull some of the double teams away from him. I've wondered for years how much better the offense could be with another downfield threat on the team. Jacoby was supposed to be that guy and it didn't work out. Thats not Walter's fault. I believe the Texans see Posey filling that role next year and down the line with Martin being our Stokley in the slot. Jean to me can fill Walter's shoes next year, but he'll have to get consistent making tough catches. That is one thing KW excels at.

Kevin Walter is not "#2" on the depth chart. That's not the way it works on this team, for better or worse. If AJ goes down, the team doesn't look to KW to step into AJ's role. THAT is what a #2 should be in most people's minds. But that isn't the way it works on the Texans. KW has his role as a starter across from AJ. If AJ goes down, the team tries to look to someone else to fill AJ's spot and they don't change Walter's role much at all. When AJ went down last year, they barely targeted KW. They mostly kept trying to feed JJ.

Like it or not, the coaching staff here does not share your opinion of what KW's job is or should be. Get over it.

__________________Hey O'Brien: "How do you tell a guy who is used to catching 80 balls a year that he was going to catch 40?"... You jackass.

Kevin Walter is not "#2" on the depth chart. That's not the way it works on this team, for better or worse. If AJ goes down, the team doesn't look to KW to step into AJ's role. THAT is what a #2 should be in most people's minds. But that isn't the way it works on the Texans. KW has his role as a starter across from AJ. If AJ goes down, the team tries to look to someone else to fill AJ's spot and they don't change Walter's role much at all. When AJ went down last year, they barely targeted KW. They mostly kept trying to feed JJ.

Like it or not, the coaching staff here does not share your opinion of what KW's job is or should be. Get over it.

That's what I was saying. KW has his role and he fills his niche doing what he needs to do. AJ has his role. When AJ goes down, KW doesn't move up and start doing AJ's job. He's not suited to that function.

In this offense, the different receiver slots have different requirements and skill-sets. Having KW replace AJ would be like having Caldwell replace Duane Brown -- you could probably do it in a pinch but it's not preferable and the results are not going to be good. But the reverse is also true, you don't want AJ doing KW's job.

When kubiak first got here he went out and got Eric moulds to be the #2 wr. Ther is no blocking wr role on this team. That's pure fan myth. Again, the reason kw is still a starter is because they simply have not had anyone to challenge him for the spot. They have made due with the best they had to offer.

If these rookies step up I would not be shocked if kw is not on the team next year.

If a receiver emerges as a real threat in the passing game on a consistent basis, expect to see kw's snaps dwindled.

Well you are dispelling a myth not asserted by anyone. Nobody says there is a blocking wr role. What is stated is Kubiak prefers wrs who can block (and has directly stated such on more than one occasion), plans on good blocking from his wrs and Walter is excellent at blocking. It has been noted AJ and Walter may be the best tandem of wrs at blocking in the league - certainly near the top. Nobody means such an observation to mean AJ is in a blocking wr role.

When kubiak first got here he went out and got Eric moulds to be the #2 wr. Ther is no blocking wr role on this team. That's pure fan myth. Again, the reason kw is still a starter is because they simply have not had anyone to challenge him for the spot. They have made due with the best they had to offer.

If these rookies step up I would not be shocked if kw is not on the team next year.

If a receiver emerges as a real threat in the passing game on a consistent basis, expect to see kw's snaps dwindled.

I agree with the bold ..... but as was stated earlier in the thread , for someone to challenge him for his starting spot , thats gonna be a pretty good player.

When kubiak first got here he went out and got Eric moulds to be the #2 wr. Ther is no blocking wr role on this team. That's pure fan myth. Again, the reason kw is still a starter is because they simply have not had anyone to challenge him for the spot. They have made due with the best they had to offer.

If these rookies step up I would not be shocked if kw is not on the team next year.

If a receiver emerges as a real threat in the passing game on a consistent basis, expect to see kw's snaps dwindled.

There's not a lot you've said that I necessarily disagree with.

If one of these rookies steps up and does a better job than KW, then KW will get less playing time. If several of these young receivers step up and play better than KW, then KW will not be on the team for very much longer.

But being a good blocker is one of the things that goes into the equation to determine if someone is as good or better than KW. If a WR can't block, they won't be on this team for very long and they definitely won't be unseating KW. I don't care what sort of deep threat they are.

Right now, no one does KWs job better than he does. And Rick Smith's job is to find several people who do.

If one of these rookies steps up and does a better job than KW, then KW will get less playing time. If several of these young receivers step up and play better than KW, then KW will not be on the team for very much longer.

But being a good blocker is one of the things that goes into the equation to determine if someone is as good or better than KW. If a WR can't block, they won't be on this team for very long and they definitely won't be unseating KW. I don't care what sort of deep threat they are.

Right now, no one does KWs job better than he does. And Rick Smith's job is to find several people who do.

This is where we are going to disagree.

The texans need more receivers that are going to help further open the passing game. Doesn't matter if it's deep, short slants, red zone threats....whatever.

Minoan made a comment today about Martin and how be has the potential to be a game breaker by taking short catches for long gains.

I just disagree that blocking is going to be the determining factor. It's important of course, but as a wr being able to make plays in the passing game is more important.

Jmo.

And I said earlier that I actually think kw has receiving skills, but he's going to have to tap more into his receiving self if he wants to be a starter here for a few more years because him being a good blocker is not going to keep him his job.

For you youngsters...Rod Smith was the go-to guy (wr1). Shannon Sharpe was his Owen Daniels middle of the field target and Kevin Walter, er...I mean Easy Ed McCaffrey was his WR2.

Same kind of offense, same kind of WR2...big lanky guy who could block and run persistent routes.

Yep. People can dismiss the fact that KW has a different role all they want, but KW is on this team as a starter doing what he does on purpose. Kubiak pretty well went out and got KW to do exactly what he's been doing.

__________________Hey O'Brien: "How do you tell a guy who is used to catching 80 balls a year that he was going to catch 40?"... You jackass.

Walter doesn't take near the hits and collisions that Andre has had to absorb over the years. Not really a fair comparison.

Walter absorbs his fair share of contact, he does a lot of dirty work & willing to go over the middle. Point being he has been extremely durable. If Andre was as durable his numbers would be off the chart. That is all I meant.

Loved Ed McCaffery, (i mean how can you not love a guy who cut off the back of his shoes because he felt like tighter shoes would help him run faster!) while there are some comparisons with KW, Ed did something that KW just doesn't seem to be able to do anymore, get separation outside.

I think the biggest problem is they have him outside, I really think he'd be killer where he belongs, which is as a slot WR.

Walter is big, strong and tough. A perfect slot receiver. I'm not sure who the folks are that criticize him are, but maybe they should understand what a slot receiver does.

The only thing the Texans need is a receiver in a 3 receiver set that can be a deep threat opposite of Andre and G*d forbid if Andre goes down, become the #1.

I do not think the arguement is if Walter can play slot but if he is #2 WR. IMO, the #2 should be able to move up to #1 if needed even if the production does not match. Everytime AJ has gone out, I do not remember Walter ever taking his place.

__________________
I want to be able to recognize the difference between a "want" and a "need" and then I want to be satisfied with getting a need

Loved Ed McCaffery, (i mean how can you not love a guy who cut off the back of his shoes because he felt like tighter shoes would help him run faster!) while there are some comparisons with KW, Ed did something that KW just doesn't seem to be able to do anymore, get separation outside.

I think the biggest problem is they have him outside, I really think he'd be killer where he belongs, which is as a slot WR.

Ed had more long speed but I don't think he was any quicker than Walter. Personally I think that one of the most important traits for a slot wr is change of direction...a waterbug type quality. You may as well run a two TE offense or with a Hback if you want bigger guys inside. They would do a better job on the edge than a guy like Walter. Walter is a good blocker...for a wr.

Kevin Walter is not "#2" on the depth chart. That's not the way it works on this team, for better or worse. If AJ goes down, the team doesn't look to KW to step into AJ's role. THAT is what a #2 should be in most people's minds. But that isn't the way it works on the Texans. KW has his role as a starter across from AJ. If AJ goes down, the team tries to look to someone else to fill AJ's spot and they don't change Walter's role much at all. When AJ went down last year, they barely targeted KW. They mostly kept trying to feed JJ.

Like it or not, the coaching staff here does not share your opinion of what KW's job is or should be. Get over it.

If this is true, why does every position have a backup except for AJ?

__________________
I want to be able to recognize the difference between a "want" and a "need" and then I want to be satisfied with getting a need